Cloth feed control



Pt- 20, 9 Y F. T. MILLER 2,482,497

CLOTH FEED CONTROL Filed March 2, 1944 Patented Sept. 20, 1949 CLOTH FEED CONTROL Fred T. Miller, Clearwater, S. 0., assignor to United Merchants & Manufacturers, Inc., Wilvmington, Del., a corporation of Delaware Application March 2, 1944,. Serial No. 524,728

The invention relates generally to cloth feeding apparatus of the kind in which long stretches of cloth in course of processing are advanced from one stage or station to another by rollers which are positively driven as by independent electric motors and in which provision is required to be made for ensuring that the cloth is not advanced, or attempted to be advanced, from any one station at a rate in excess of that at which it.is delivered to that station. It not infrequently happens that a slow down or stoppage occursin one of the operations, as in continuous bleaching, for example, and unless provision is made to slow down or stop the feeding of the cloth as it is'bein'g advanced at a later stage in the process, the tension of thecloth may be so increased as to cause breakage, fraying and, in some instances, burning out of roller drive motors, as well as derangement of the cloth with respect to guides or other apparatus over or through which it is passing, resulting in time consuming delays and low production. a

The object of thepresent invention is to provide simple and effective means for controlling the feed of the cloth at any desired stage, as by'controlling the motor which operates the' drive rollers next following such stage, by means operating quite independently of and without increasing the normal tension of the cloth in its passage through the apparatus, the control operating to slow down or stop such motor whenever it withdraws cloth from the stage or station in question at a rate materially in excess of that at which the cloth is delivered to that station.

A preferred'form' of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings,,of which Fig. 1 is an elevational view, partially sectioned, of one application of the invention to a cloth feeding apparatus and Fig. 2 is a broken out elevational view of a modification.

Referring to Fig. 1, the invention is shown in a form appropriate for application to a continu ous bleaching unit. The cloth I enters the illustrated part of the unit at the lower right-hand corner of the figure, coming from a washen'not shown. The cloth is withdrawn from the washer byrollers 2 and 3, of which 'the former is beltdriven by motor 4, and is then passed over another belt-driven roller 5 to the control, generally designated 6 and described in detail below. From the control, the cloth is positively withdrawn by a second motor I, as by belt-driven roller 8, and is then delivered to bin 9.

As will be understood, the so-called piler motor I and bin 9 are frequently located at a con- 5 Claims. (Cl. 2712.3)

siderable distance from motor 4 and the washer, on occasion even in a different building, which renders important the need for some means of controlling the second motor not necessarily in precise synchronism'with the first but at least in such manner as to avoid the difficulties above mentioned in the event the washer motor, and hence the cloth feed, is for any reason slowed or stopped. I H

According to the present invention this is accomplished automatically by the cloth itself but without reference to its tension. In general, the control consists of a switch located in the circuit of what has been referred to as the piler or second motor, which switch is actuated by the movement of a receptacle to which the cloth is delivered by the firstmotor and from which it is withdrawn by the second motor. The movement of the receptacle is effected by the weight of cloth in or on it, the movement being such as to stop the second motor when, as indicated by the amount of cloth in the receptacle, such motor is withdrawing cloth therefrom at a rate materially in excess of the rate at which the first motor is delivering cloth to the receptacle.

In the illustrated preferred form of the invention the control comprises a so-called J box III to one end of which the cloth is delivered by motor 4 and from the other end of which the cloth is withdrawn by motor I. The J box is mounted for limited movement about a horizontal axis, being suspended by strap II from a pivot shaft I2 supported by uprights l3. Stops l4, l5 limit the movement of the box. keeping it in a generally upright position. In order to establish a normal running condition the J box is substantially filled, about as shown, the friction between the cloth and the sides of the box resulting in somewhat unbalanced columns of cloth in the two arms of the box, as indicated. In this condition, the box is so biased in relation to its pivot as to occupy its full line position and it will of course continue to occupy that position as long as the rate of withdrawal of cloth from-the box is substantially equal to the rate of delivery to it. But when, for any reason, the delivery tothe box .is slowed or stopped, the continued withdrawal from the outlet end of the boxcauses the dwindling supply of clothto slide down .toward the lowest part of the box, thereby biasing it to move to its other or dotted line position.

This movement of the box is utilized to control the second motor. To this end, a switch l6, controlling the circuit of such motor, is adapted to be actuated by crank arm I! linked to arm I8 mounted on the end of pivot shaft l2, the coupling being such that the switch is closed when the box occupies its full line or normal running position and is opened to response to movement of the box to its dotted line position. In Fig. 2 the ar rangement is the same except that rheostat type motor controller I9 is substituted for the switch N5 of Fig. 1 which in some installations is preferable to avoid too frequent starting and stopping of the second motor.

As will be apparent, the control is fully automatic, in that as soon as the normal delivery of cloth to the J box is restored and the cloth has again accumulated to substantially .fill the box, the latter swings back from the dotted to the full line position and re-starts (Fig. 1) or speeds up (Fig. 2) the motor I.

The preferred form illustrated will be recogized by those familiar with the problems involved to have sundry advantages but, as will aiso be understood, the principles of the invention are susceptible of application in various forms to suit the conditions at hand.

' By utilizing a J box or its equivalent for the purpose described, the motor control, as stated, is effected without regard to the tension of the cloth; and, furthermore, the normal accumulation of cloth in the box serves as a reservoir and avoids the frequent starting, stopping and hunting likely to occur with a more direct type of control.

The following is claimed:

1. In cloth feeding apparatus of the kind including a drive motor for delivering the cloth from one station and a second motor for delivering the cloth to a second station, the combination of a J box to which the cloth is delivered by said first motor and from which it is withdrawn by the second motor, said J box being mounted for pivotal movement about a horizontal axis, stop means for limiting the movement of the box in each direction, said box being so biased in relation to its pivot axis as to move to engage one of the stops when the box is substantially full and the other stop when it is only partially full, and a circuit control for said second motor adapted for actuation in response to such movements of the box, said circuit control comprising switch means in the circuit of the second motor actuable by said movement of the J box, and said switch means upon actuation being adapted to decelerate the second motor.

2. In cloth "feeding apparatus including a drive motor for delivering the cloth from one station and a second motor for delivering the cloth to a second station, the combination of a J box to which the cloth is delivered by said first motor and from which it is withdrawn by the second motor, said J box being suspended for pivotal movement about a horizontal axis in accordance with the delivery and withdrawal of cloth thereto,

cloth from the latter exceeds the delivery of cloth thereto.

3. In cloth feeding apparatus of the kind including a drive motor for delivering the cloth from one station and a second motor for delivering the cloth to a second station, the combination of a cloth receptacle to which the cloth is delivered by the first motor and from which it is withdrawn by the second motor, means supporting said receptacle for limited movement in response to withdrawal of cloth from the receptacle in excess of the delivery of cloth thereto, a circuit controller for said second motor arranged for actuation in response to said movement of the receptacle, said circuit controller comprising switch means in the circuit of the second motor actuable by said movement of the receptacle, and said switch means upon actuation being adapted to open to break the circuit of the second motor.

4. In cloth feeding apparatus of the kind including a drive motor for delivering the cloth from one station and a second motor for delivering the cloth to a second station, the combination of a pivotally mounted cloth receptacle having a receiving section on one side of its pivot for cloth delivered by the first motor and a delivery section on the other side of its pivot from which cloth is withdrawn by the second motor and a circuit controller for said second motor adapted for actuation by movement of the receptacle in response to withdrawal of cloth from the delivery section in excess of the delivery to the receiving section, said circuit controller comprising switch means in the circuit of the second motor actuable by said movement of the receptacle, and said switch means upon actuation being adapted to decrease the speed of the second motor.

5. In cloth feeding apparatus of the kind including a drive motor for delivering the cloth from one stationand a second motor for delivera circuit control for said second motor adapted motor and therefore the rate of withdrawal of cloth from said J box when the withdrawal of ing the cloth to a second station, the combination of a J box to which the cloth is delivered by said first motor and from which it is withdrawn by the second motor, said J box being mounted for limited movement from one position when substantially full to another position when only partially full, a circuit control for said second motor adapted for actuation by such movement of the box, said circuit control comprising switch means in the circuit of the second motor actuable by said movement of the J box, and said switch means upon actuation being adapted to open to break the circuit of the second motor when the J box is partially full.

FRED MILLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 661,295 Rigamonti et a1. Nov. 6, 1900 1,637,892 Benner et a1 Aug. 2, 1927 1,912,892 Eitzen June 6, 1933 1,965,150 Mills July 3, 1934 2,193,189 Brooke 'et a1 Mar. 12, 1940 2,3 7,921 Leach Apr. 27, 1943 2,409,770 Lorig et a1. Oct. 22, 1-946 

